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(Ultra; US: 17 Sep 2013; UK: 17 Sep 2013)

The Bloody Beetroots: Hide

The Bloody Beetroots is an Italian dance act that pretty much shares the same club music ethics with bands like Daft Punk and David Guetta. As with Daft Punk, the Bloody Beetroots (producer Sir Bob Cornelius Rifo and DJ Tommy Tea) have adopted mysterious personas by obscuring their faces with masks (of Spiderman character Venom) onstage and in photo shoots. It’s a gimmick that’s only mildly amusing. Even less amusing is the overly pompous, frosh-party EDM that pretty much makes up the entirety of sophomore release, Hide. Undoubtedly, the Beetroots’ profile has been considerably raised by the appearances of Paul McCartney, Peter Frampton and Tommy Lee on the new album. Unfortunately, the inclusion of those high-profile acts sinks rather than supports the collaborative efforts. A silly number recorded with Frampton brings to mind Cher’s ghastly vocoder-from-hell hit ‘Believe” and tracks like “Please Baby” featuring P-Thugg and single “Out of Sight” with Paul McCartney are indistinguishable from the hordes of electro-dance tunes dominating the airwaves currently. The Beetroots would have done better to just do away with the guest list of rock star dinosaurs that perform on the album. Too much focus is paid to the turgid celebrity contributions, merely distracting the listener’s attention from the music itself that might have, otherwise, passed for mediocre.

Imran Khan is a freelance writer who lives in Canada. He earned his Bachelor of Arts degree in English and Communications at York University before studying Creative Writing at the University of Toronto for Continuing Studies. In addition to PopMatters, he has also written for such publications like Inside Entertainment, aRUDE and The Toronto Quarterly.